Mbola shunned his call up and travelled to Armenia on trials with Pyunik Yerevan while Tana travelled to Angola to sign for Petro Atletico.

The result of the Chan Group A opener was a big disappointed to the home crowd who had filled every corner of the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan to cheer their team to victory.

With the hosts down to 10-men after Saoure Florent was dismissed after 18 minutes following a reckless tackle on his Zambian marker, the Chipolopolo midfield which revolved around William Njobvu, Lwipa Ignatius and Henry Banda dominated completely and it was just a matter of time before the opener came.

Singulama broke the deadlock on 35 minutes by blasting in from close range with the Ivorian defence torn apart.

Ivory Coast coach Georges Kouadio brought on ASEC midfielder N’gossan in the second half and the latter made his presence felt by leading several raids into the Chipolopolo defence, according to KickOffGhana.com

Four minutes into the half Lwipa made it two before Singulama sealed victory with the third goal 10 minutes from time.

“The Ivorian team was nervous with the huge crowd and we capitalized on that. The expectations were too much and they simply could not live by it. We played our normal game and we got the result. This is a good start and we are on course for the final.” Zambian coach Herve Renard said after the game.

Later in the day the Teranga Lions of Senegal claimed their first win of the tournament with a lone goal victory over Tanzania’s Taifa Stars.

Midfielder Traore Mamadou’s 29th minute strike ensured victory for the Senegalese who were given a good run by the Tanzanians.

The result puts Senegal on same points as Zambia, with the latter having superior goal difference. Senegal next play Zambia whilst Ivory Coast faces Tanzania.

Group B

Ivory Coast’s second city, Bouake, will come alive on Monday with the opening Group B match between Ghana and Zimbabwe.

Both teams will be seeking for a convincing win to announce their claim for the ultimate at the tournament designed exclusively for local based footballers.

Ghana, one of the pundits’ choice to reach the final boasts of one of the best teams at the tournament and only an outstanding result will see them live by that status.

The Ghanaian team, dominated by seven players from champion club Asante Kotoko, is highly favoured to beat the Zimbabweans, but they can only underrate the Southern Africans at their own peril.